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Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) is a chronic relapsing disorder affecting an estimated 283 million individuals worldwide, with substantial health and economic consequences. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs), particularly PPAR-α and PPAR-γ, have shown promise in preclinical studies as potential therapeutic targets for AUD. In this human laboratory study, we aimed to translate preclinical findings on the PPAR-α agonist fenofibrate to a human population with current AUD. We hypothesized that, relative to placebo, fenofibrate at the highest FDA-approved dose of 145 mg/d would attenuate responsiveness to in vivo alcohol cues in the lab and reduce drinking under natural conditions. However, the results did not show significant differences in craving and alcohol consumption between the fenofibrate and placebo groups. Reverse translational studies in rodent models confirmed the lack of fenofibrate effect at human-equivalent doses. These findings suggest that inadequate translation of drug dose from rodents to humans may account for the lack of fenofibrate effects on alcohol craving and consumption in humans with AUD. The results highlight the need for new brain-penetrant PPAR-α agonists to adequately test the therapeutic potential of PPAR-α agonists for AUD, and the importance of reverse translational approaches and selection of human-equivalent doses in drug development.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has significantly impacted the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This review examines the genetic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 variants, their roles in epidemiological tracking, and their influence on viral fitness. Variants of concern (VOCs) such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron have demonstrated increased transmissibility, altered pathogenicity, and potential resistance to neutralizing antibodies. Epidemiological tracking of these variants is crucial for understanding their spread, informing public health interventions, and guiding vaccine development. The review also explores how specific mutations in the spike protein and other genomic regions contribute to viral fitness, affecting replication efficiency, immune escape, and transmission dynamics. By integrating genomic surveillance data with epidemiological and clinical findings, this review provides a comprehensive overview of the ongoing evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and its implications for public health strategies and new vaccine development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of positive and negative feedback on recall of past decisions, focusing on behavioral performance and electrophysiological (EEG) responses. Participants completed a decision-making task involving 10 real-life scenarios, each followed by immediate positive or negative feedback. In a recall phase, participants' accuracy (ACC), errors (ERRs), and response times (RTs) were recorded alongside EEG data to analyze brain activity patterns related to recall. Results indicate that accurately recalled decisions with positive feedback had slower RTs, suggesting an attentional bias toward positive information that could increase cognitive load during memory retrieval. A lack of difference in recall accuracy implies that social stimuli and situational goals may influence the positivity bias. EEG data showed distinct patterns: lower alpha band activity in frontal regions (AF7, AF8) for both correct and incorrect decisions recall, reflecting focused attention and cognitive control. Correctly recalled decisions with negative feedback showed higher delta activity, often linked to aversive processing, while incorrect recalls with negative feedback showed higher beta and gamma activity. A theta band feedback-dependent modulation in electrode activity showed higher values for decisions with negative feedback, suggesting memory suppression. These findings suggest that recalling decisions linked to self-threatening feedback may require greater cognitive effort, as seen in increased beta and gamma activity, which may indicate motivational processing and selective memory suppression. This study provides insights into the neural mechanisms of feedback-based memory recall, showing how feedback valence affects not only behavioral outcomes but also the cognitive and emotional processes involved in decision recall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: F-8-coil repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and H-1-coil deep repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) have been indicated for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adult patients by applying different treatment protocols. Nevertheless, the evidence for long-term electrophysiological alterations in the cortex following prolonged TMS interventions, as assessed by quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG), remains insufficiently explored. This study aims to demonstrate the qEEG-based distinctions between rTMS and dTMS in the management of depression and to evaluate the potential correlation between the electrophysiological changes induced by these two distinct TMS interventions and the clinical improvement in depressive and anxiety symptoms. Methods: A total of 60 patients diagnosed with treatment resistant depression received rTMS (n = 30) or dTMS (n = 30) along with their usual treatments in Kemal Arıkan Psychiatry Clinic. All the participants underwent resting-state qEEG recording before and at the end of 30 sessions of TMS treatment. The significant qEEG changes were then tested for their correlation with the improvement in depression and anxiety. Results: After the course of rTMS and dTMS a considerable reduction is seen in the severity of depression and anxiety. Although improvements in depression and anxiety were observed in both TMS groups, specific neural activity patterns were associated with better outcomes in depression. Patients who exhibited lower alpha activity in the left fronto-central region and higher gamma activity in the right prefrontal region following rTMS showed more significant improvements in depression symptoms. Similarly, those whose beta activity increased in the left prefrontal region but decreased in the right prefrontal region after rTMS tended to have greater reductions in depression and anxiety severity. For patients in the dTMS group, those who demonstrated a decrease in left temporal theta activity after treatment were more likely to experience a substantial improvement in depression severity. Conclusion: Following 30 sessions of rTMS with a F8 coil and dTMS with an H1 coil, notable alterations in qEEG activity with clinical significance were discerned. The persistence of these changes should be investigated in the subsequent follow-up period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with high autistic traits (AT) encounter challenges in social interaction, similar to autistic persons. Precise screening and focused interventions positively contribute to improving this situation. Functional connectivity analyses can measure information transmission and integration between brain regions, providing neurophysiological insights into these challenges. This study aimed to investigate the patterns of brain networks in high AT individuals to offer theoretical support for screening and intervention decisions. EEG data were collected during a 4-min resting state session with eyes open and closed from 48 participants. Using the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scale, participants were categorized into the high AT group (HAT, n = 15) and low AT groups (LAT, n = 15). We computed the interhemispheric and intrahemispheric alpha coherence in two groups. The correlation between physiological indices and AQ scores was also examined. Results revealed that HAT exhibited significantly lower alpha coherence in the homologous hemispheres of the occipital cortex compared to LAT during the eyes-closed resting state. Additionally, significant negative correlations were observed between the degree of AT (AQ scores) and the alpha coherence in the occipital cortex, as well as in the right frontal and left occipital regions. The findings indicated that high AT individuals exhibit decreased connectivity in the occipital region, potentially resulting in diminished ability to process social information from visual inputs. Our discovery contributes to a deeper comprehension of the neural underpinnings of social challenges in high AT individuals, providing neurophysiological signatures for screening and intervention strategies for this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Postoperative delirium (POD) is the most common neurological adverse event among elderly patients undergoing surgery. POD is associated with an increased risk for postoperative complications, long-term cognitive decline, an increase in morbidity and mortality as well as extended hospital stays. Delirium prevention and treatment options are currently limited. This study will evaluate the effect of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) on the incidence of POD. Methods: We will perform a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial using single-session postoperative application of tES in the recovery room in 225 patients (> 65 years) undergoing elective major surgery. Patients will be randomly allocated (ratio 1:1:1) to one of three study groups: (1) alpha-tACS over posterior parietal cortex [2 mA, 20 min], (2) anodal tDCS over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex [2 mA, 20 min], (3) sham [2 mA, 30 s]. Delirium will be screened twice daily with the 3-min diagnostic interview Confusion Assessment Method (3D-CAM) in the 5 days following surgery. The primary outcome is the incidence of POD defined as at least one positive screening during the five first postoperative days compared between tACS and sham groups. Secondary outcomes include delirium severity, duration, phenotype, postoperative pain, postoperative nausea and vomiting, electroencephalographic (EEG) markers, and fluid biomarkers. Discussion: If effective, tES is a novel, easily applicable, non-invasive method to prevent the occurrence of POD. The comprehensive neurophysiological and biofluid assessments for markers of (neuro-)inflammation and neurodegeneration will shed light on the pathomechanisms behind POD and further elucidate the (after-)effects of tES. The potential implications for the postoperative recovery comprise enhanced patient safety, neurocognitive outcome, perioperative manageability but also reduced healthcare costs. Trial registration: German Clinical Trial Registry DRKS00033703. Registered on February 23, 2024. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that a non-parametric estimate of the pricing kernel, extracted using an information-theoretic approach, delivers smaller out-of-sample pricing errors and a better cross-sectional fit than leading multi-factor models. The information stochastic discount factor (I-SDF) identifies sources of risk not captured by standard factors, generating very large annual alphas (20–37%) and Sharpe ratio (1.1). The I-SDF extracted from a wide cross-section of equity portfolios is highly positively skewed and leptokurtic, and implies that about a third of the observed risk premia represent compensation for 2.5% tail events. The I-SDF offers a powerful benchmark relative to which competing theories and investment strategies can be evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies investigating language commonly isolate one modality or process, focusing on comprehension or production. Here, we present a framework for a paradigm that combines both: the Concise Language Paradigm (CLaP), tapping into comprehension and production within one trial. The trial structure is identical across conditions, presenting a sentence followed by a picture to be named. We tested 21 healthy speakers with EEG to examine three time periods during a trial (sentence, pre-picture interval, picture onset), yielding contrasts of sentence comprehension, contextually and visually guided word retrieval, object recognition, and naming. In the CLaP, sentences are presented auditorily (constrained, unconstrained, reversed), and pictures appear as normal (constrained, unconstrained, bare) or scrambled objects. Imaging results revealed different evoked responses after sentence onset for normal and time-reversed speech. Further, we replicated the context effect of alpha-beta power decreases before picture onset for constrained relative to unconstrained sentences, and could clarify that this effect arises from power decreases following constrained sentences. Brain responses locked to picture-onset differed as a function of sentence context and picture type (normal vs. scrambled), and naming times were fastest for pictures in constrained sentences, followed by scrambled picture naming, and equally fast for bare and unconstrained picture naming. Finally, we also discuss the potential of the CLaP to be adapted to different focuses, using different versions of the linguistic content and tasks, in combination with electrophysiology or other imaging methods. These first results of the CLaP indicate that this paradigm offers a promising framework to investigate the language system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: During drowsiness, maintaining consistent attention becomes difficult, leading to behavioural lapses. Bursts of oscillations in the electroencephalogram (EEG) might predict such lapses, given that alpha bursts increase during inattention and theta bursts increase with time spent awake. Paradoxically, however, alpha bursts decrease with time awake and theta bursts increase during focussed attention and cognitive tasks. Therefore, we investigated to what extent theta and alpha bursts predicted performance in a sustained attention task, either when well rested (baseline, BL) or following 20 h of extended wakefulness (EW). High‐density EEG was measured in 18 young adults, and the timing of bursts was related to trial outcomes (fast, slow, and lapse trials). To increase the likelihood of lapses, the task was performed under soporific conditions. Against expectations, alpha bursts were more likely before fast trials and less likely before lapses at baseline, although the effect was substantially reduced during extended wakefulness. Theta bursts showed no significant relationship to behavioural outcome either at baseline or extended wakefulness. However, following exploratory analyses, we found that large‐amplitude theta and alpha bursts were more likely to be followed by lapse trials during extended wakefulness but not baseline. In summary, alpha bursts during baseline anticipated better trial outcomes, whereas large‐amplitude theta and alpha bursts during extended wakefulness anticipated worse outcomes. Therefore, neither theta nor alpha bursts maintain a consistent relationship with behaviour under different levels of overall vigilance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Electroencephalogram (EEG) biomarkers with adequate sensitivity and specificity to reflect the brain's health status can become indispensable for health monitoring during prolonged missions in space. The objective of our study was to assess whether the basic features of the posterior dominant rhythm (PDR) change under microgravity conditions compared to earth-based scalp EEG recordings. Methods: Three crew members during the 16-day AXIOM-1 mission to the International Space Station (ISS), underwent scalp EEG recordings before, during, and after the mission by means of a dry-electrode self-donning headgear designed to support long-term EEG recordings in space. Resting-state recordings were performed with eyes open and closed during relaxed wakefulness. The electrodes representative of EEG activity in each occipital lobe were used, and consecutive PDR oscillations were identified during periods of eye closure. In turn, cursor-based markers were placed at the negative peak of each sinusoidal wave of the PDR. Waveform averaging and time-frequency analysis were performed for all PDR samples for the respective pre-mission, mission, and post-mission EEGs. Results: No significant differences were found in the mean frequency of the PDR in any of the crew subjects between their EEG on the ISS and their pre- or post-mission EEG on ground level. The PDR oscillations varied over a ±1Hz standard deviation range. Similarly, no significant differences were found in PDR's power spectral density. Conclusions: Our study shows that the spectral features of the PDR remain within normal limits in a short exposure to the microgravity environment, with its frequency manifesting within an acceptable ±1 Hz variation from the pre-mission mean. Further investigations for EEG features and markers reflecting the human brain neurophysiology during space missions are required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemispheric Asymmetry Reduction in Old Adults (HAROLD) is one of the most well-known models of compensatory brain involvement in older adults. Most evidence supports its occurrence from the perspective of PET and fMRI studies, with a deficiency in electroencephalographic research in this domain. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the possibility of identifying the HAROLD pattern in older adults' power of theta and alpha. The study sample comprised 50 older adults and 60 young adults performing n-back tasks while recording EEG signals. The level of cognitive performance and the theta and alpha power for pairs of symmetrical electrodes in the prefrontal, frontal, and parietal areas were analyzed. Older adults exhibited inferior cognitive performance compared to young adults and heightened theta power in the right hemisphere within the prefrontal and parietal areas. However, they also demonstrated increased alpha power in the right frontal pole, which contradicts the compensatory effects of theta power. Moreover, the two indicated phenomena of lateralization of theta and alpha power in older adults were unrelated to individual cognitive performance. The results make it challenging to discern whether the revealed age-related differences in theta and alpha power lateralization denote compensation, dedifferentiation, or nonselective recruitment as neutral features of brain activity in old adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic value added (EVA) is a useful concept for creating investment strategies for fund managers and scholars. This paper analyzes an alpha‐seeking strategy with EVA. We use a long‐short portfolio with high EVA and low EVA stocks. Using the normalized EVA, we construct a portfolio from the first to the fifth quintile and test the effectiveness of the strategy with the Carhart four‐factor model. We find the following: (1) The portfolios with high EVA stocks outperform those with low ones; (2) EVA‐based long‐short portfolio generates 6.5% return per annum. This paper provides an empirical basis for launching a new equity fund with EVA in Korea. This strategy suggestion could also be extended to introduce new EVA investment strategies in other global markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the subarachnoid space around the brain has long been known to drain through the lymphatics to cervical lymph nodes1-17, but the connections and regulation have been challenging to identify. Here, using fluorescent CSF tracers in Prox1-GFP lymphatic reporter mice18, we found that the nasopharyngeal lymphatic plexus is a major hub for CSF outflow to deep cervical lymph nodes. This plexus had unusual valves and short lymphangions but no smooth-muscle coverage, whereas downstream deep cervical lymphatics had typical semilunar valves, long lymphangions and smooth muscle coverage that transported CSF to the deep cervical lymph nodes. α-Adrenergic and nitric oxide signalling in the smooth muscle cells regulated CSF drainage through the transport properties of deep cervical lymphatics. During ageing, the nasopharyngeal lymphatic plexus atrophied, but deep cervical lymphatics were not similarly altered, and CSF outflow could still be increased by adrenergic or nitric oxide signalling. Single-cell analysis of gene expression in lymphatic endothelial cells of the nasopharyngeal plexus of aged mice revealed increased type I interferon signalling and other inflammatory cytokines. The importance of evidence for the nasopharyngeal lymphatic plexus functioning as a CSF outflow hub is highlighted by its regression during ageing. Yet, the ageing-resistant pharmacological activation of deep cervical lymphatic transport towards lymph nodes can still increase CSF outflow, offering an approach for augmenting CSF clearance in age-related neurological conditions in which greater efflux would be beneficial.

To assess outright and relative value opportunities in stocks and benchmark their performance against an index with global relevance, it is important to achieve and measure risk-adjusted excess returns. Academic and corporate research has focused quite extensively on analyzing stock returns and comparing the outperformance of specific investment strategies, with value investing being one of the most prominent and longest-known factor strategies. In this event study, to test for the existence of risk-adjusted excess returns, or alpha, a novel two-step approach is proposed to assess Enhanced Value in single stocks for three different investment approaches: plain value investing, investing in spin-offs, and investing in turnaround companies. While the first step of the two-step approach screens companies for a combination of financial company characteristics, the second step ranks and sorts them by either their price-earnings ratio or by their price-book ratio, thus “enhancing” the value assessment. Their short- and mid-term stock performance is investigated for an investment horizon of one year, three years, and five years. Stocks of value companies, spin-offs, and turnaround companies outperform the S&P 500 benchmark on average and on a risk-adjusted basis for all three investment horizons when tested for Enhanced Value with the novel two-step approach. The analysis results provide deeper insights into how the value factor in its different characteristics needs to be understood in the context of investment strategies and how it potentially can be applied to stock selection and portfolio construction, resulting in investment strategies showing a risk-adjusted outperformance.

Switching attention between or within tasks is part of the implementation and maintenance of executive control processes and plays an indispensable role in our daily lives: It allows us to perform on distinct tasks and with variable objects, enabling us to adapt to and respond in dynamically changing environments. Here, we tested if yoga could benefit switching of attention between distinct objects of one's focus (e.g., through practicing switching between one's own body, feelings, and different postures) in particular and executive control in general. We therefore conducted a randomized controlled trial with 98 participants and a waitlisted control group. In the intervention group, healthy yoga novices practiced Hatha yoga 3x a week, for 8 weeks. We conducted two experiments: A purely behavioral task investigating changes in behavioral costs during switching between attentional control sets (74 participants analyzed), and a modality-switching task focusing on electrophysiology (EEG data of 47 participants analyzed). At the electrophysiological level, frequency-tagging indicated no interventional effect on participants' ability to switch between the auditory and visual modalities. However, increases in task-related frontocentral theta activity, resulting from the intervention, indicated an ability to increasingly deploy executive resources to the prioritized task when needed. At the behavioral level, our intervention resulted in more efficient holding of target representations in working memory, indicated by decreased mixing costs. Again, however, intervention effects on switching costs were missing. We, thus, conclude that Hatha yoga has a positive influence on executive control, potentially through improvements in working memory rather than directly on switching. Clinical trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov , identifier [NCT05232422]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In everyday tasks, our focus of attention shifts seamlessly between contents in the sensory environment and internal memory representations. Yet, research has mainly considered external and internal attention in isolation. We used magnetoencephalography to compare the neural dynamics of shifting attention to visual contents within vs. between the external and internal domains. Participants performed a combined perception and working-memory task in which two sequential cues guided attention to upcoming (external) or memorized (internal) sensory information. Critically, the second cue could redirect attention to visual content within the same or alternative domain as the first cue. Multivariate decoding unveiled distinct patterns of human brain activity when shifting attention within vs. between domains. Brain activity distinguishing withinfrom between-domain shifts was broadly distributed and highly dynamic. Intriguingly, crossing domains did not invoke an additional stage prior to shifting attention. Alpha lateralization, a canonical marker of shifting spatial attention, showed no delay when cues redirected attention to the same vs. alternative domain. Instead, evidence suggested that neural states associated with a given domain linger and influence subsequent shifts of attention within vs. between domains. Our findings provide critical insights into the neural dynamics that govern attentional shifts between perception and working memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling Type 1 error and encouraging reproducible research are important in clinical and translational research. These concepts are frequently discussed in lectures with mathematical language, analytic examples, and probability distributions that demonstrate the issues. However, first‐time learners in biostatistics courses focusing on fundamental topics may benefit from a more interactive demonstration in which learners participate, contribute to the results, and have a personal stake in the outcomes. This article summarizes a simple activity using dice to simulate Type 1 error that requires minimal preparation and cost. The activity may be appropriate for learners enrolled in a first course in statistics, biostatistics, or probability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Resistance to thyroid hormones (RTH) is a rare but important genetic cause of decreased peripheral tissue responses to the actions of thyroxine. Most RTH cases are caused by mutations in thyroid hormone receptor β (TRβ, THRB), while a few are caused by mutations in thyroid hormone receptor α (TRα, THRA). RTH is clinically heterogeneous, and the biochemical features are often confusing, resulting in misdiagnoses, mismanagement, and life-long consequences for affected individuals. An awareness of the clinical and genetic spectrum of RTH is therefore essential to avoid misdiagnosis and to ensure timely referral for definitive management. Case Presentation: Here we present four clinical vignettes describing three children and one adult with RTH encountered in our “real-world” tertiary pediatric endocrinology practice. We describe a novel THRA (NM_199334.3:c.-298 + 5G>A) missense mutation in the first intron in the 5’ untranslated region (UTR) of THRA, with causal variant prediction with Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion placing the mutation in the top 1% most deleterious variants (scaled C-score 21.7). We speculate that this mutation causes an exon skipping event affecting the 5’UTR and protein-coding region, thereby resulting in abnormal or absent TRα1, although supporting clinical, genetic, and/or functional analyses are required to upgrade the pathogenicity classification from uncertain significance to pathogenic/likely pathogenic. The three cases describing “classical” RTH caused by THRB mutations showcase the consequences of misdiagnosis, with 2 patients prescribed medications that could exacerbate symptoms and one child presenting with behavioral problems that might benefit from tailored management with hormone therapies. Conclusion: This report not only highlights the importance of a high index of suspicion for RTH to prompt the genetic diagnosis but also contributes to a growing appreciation of the pathogenic role of non-coding variants in rare diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When faced with danger, human beings respond with a repertoire of defensive behaviors, including freezing and active avoidance. Previous research has revealed a pattern of physiological responses, characterized by heart rate bradycardia, reduced visual exploration, and heightened sympathetic arousal in reaction to avoidable threats, suggesting a state of attentive immobility in humans. However, the electrocortical underpinnings of these behaviors remain largely unexplored. To investigate the visuocortical components of attentive immobility, we recorded parieto-occipital alpha activity, along with eye movements and autonomic responses, while participants awaited either an avoidable, inevitable, or no threat. To test the robustness and generalizability of our findings, we collected data from a total of 101 participants (76 females, 25 males) at two laboratories. Across sites, we observed an enhanced suppression of parieto-occipital alpha activity during avoidable threats, in contrast to inevitable or no threat trials, particularly toward the end of the trial that prompted avoidance responses. This response pattern coincided with heart rate bradycardia, centralization of gaze, and increased sympathetic arousal. Furthermore, our findings expand on previous research by revealing that the amount of alpha suppression, along with centralization of gaze, and heart rate changes predict the speed of motor responses. Collectively, these findings indicate that when individuals encounter avoidable threats, they enter a state of attentive immobility, which enhances perceptual processing and facilitates action preparation. This state appears to reflect freezing-like behavior in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the shape of cortical oscillations is increasingly recognised to be physiologically and functionally informative, its relevance to the aging motor system has not been established. We therefore examined the shape of alpha and beta band oscillations recorded at rest, as well as during performance of simple and go/no-go reaction time tasks, in 33 young (23.3 ± 2.9 years, 27 females) and 27 older (60.0 ± 5.2 years, 23 females) adults. The shape of individual oscillatory cycles was characterised using a recently developed pipeline involving empirical mode decomposition, before being decomposed into waveform motifs using principal component analysis. This revealed four principal components that were uniquely influenced by task and/or age. These described specific dimensions of shape and tended to be modulated during the reaction phase of each task. Our results suggest that although oscillation shape is task-dependent, the nature of this effect is altered by advancing age, possibly reflecting alterations in cortical activity. These outcomes demonstrate the utility of this approach for understanding the neurophysiological effects of ageing. • The shape of cortical oscillations is physiologically and functionally relevant. • The influence of ageing on waveform shape is unknown. • Waveform motifs describing alpha and beta oscillation shape were derived. • Shape motifs were compared between young and older adults during motor tasks. • Different facets of shape showed unique sensitivity to ageing and task performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Shifts in peak frequencies of oscillatory neural rhythms are put forward as a principal mechanism by which cross‐frequency coupling/decoupling is implemented in the brain. During active neural processing, functional integration is facilitated through transitory formations of "harmonic" cross‐frequency couplings, whereas "nonharmonic" decoupling among neural oscillatory rhythms is postulated to characterize the resting, default state of the brain, minimizing the occurrence of spurious, noisy, background couplings. Methods: Within this exploratory, randomized, placebo‐controlled trial, we assessed whether the transient occurrence of nonharmonic and harmonic relationships between peak‐frequencies in the alpha (8–14 Hz) and theta (4–8 Hz) bands is impacted by intranasal administration of oxytocin, a neuromodulator implicated in improving homeostasis and reducing stress/anxiety. To do so, resting‐state electroencephalography was acquired before and after 4 weeks of oxytocin administration (12 IU twice‐daily) in children with autism spectrum disorder (8–12 years, n = 33 oxytocin; n = 34 placebo). At the baseline, neural assessments of children with autism were compared with those of a matched cohort of children without autism (n = 40). Results: Compared to nonautistic peers, autistic children displayed a lower incidence of nonharmonic alpha‐theta cross‐frequency decoupling, indicating a higher incidence of spurious "noisy" coupling in their resting brain (p =.001). Dimensionally, increased neural coupling was associated with more social difficulties (p =.002) and lower activity of the parasympathetic "rest & digest" branch of the autonomic nervous system (p =.018), indexed with high‐frequency heart‐rate‐variability. Notably, after oxytocin administration, the transient formation of nonharmonic cross‐frequency configurations was increased in the cohort of autistic children (p <.001), indicating a beneficial effect of oxytocin on reducing spurious cross‐frequency‐interactions. Furthermore, parallel epigenetics changes of the oxytocin receptor gene indicated that the neural effects were likely mediated by changes in endogenous oxytocinergic signaling (p =.006). Conclusions: Chronic oxytocin induced important homeostatic changes in the resting‐state intrinsic neural frequency architecture, reflective of reduced noisy oscillatory couplings and improved signal‐to‐noise properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oral candidiasis has been documented in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, with varying prevalence rates across geographic regions and patient demographics. This study aimed to ascertain the incidence, characteristics, and risk factors associated with the development of oral candidiasis in patients hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 infection in a tertiary infectious diseases hospital in Romania. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on adult patients hospitalized between March 2020 and December 2022 with moderate or severe forms of SARS-CoV-2 infection, for whom a culture of lingual scrapings for Candida spp. was performed. Results: A total of 294 patients were deemed eligible for inclusion in the analysis, with an incidence rate of oral candidiasis of 17.0%. The incidence of oral candidiasis was 4.2 times higher in patients with severe forms of SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to those with moderate forms. Patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 and oral candidiasis were more likely to receive antibiotics (98.0% vs. 86.1%, p = 0.017) and corticosteroids (100% vs. 83.6%, p = 0.003) than those without oral candidiasis. These findings were associated with a 19% higher relative risk of developing oral candidiasis for patients who received corticosteroid therapy compared to those who did not, and a 13% higher relative risk for those who were administered antibiotics compared to those who were not. The presence of respiratory insufficiency increased the odds of oral candidiasis association 4.7-fold (88.0% vs. 61.1%, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Although the data have been analyzed retrospectively, we have shown that individuals with severe forms of COVID-19 exhibited an elevated risk of developing oral candidiasis. The administration of antibiotics and corticosteroids was identified as a positive predictor for the development of oral candidiasis. The data presented here suggest that a key aspect of the therapeutic management of patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection should include the implementation of preventive measures to minimize the risk of secondary fungal infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Task-free brain activity exhibits spontaneous fluctuations between functional states, characterized by synchronized activation patterns in distributed resting-state (RS) brain networks. The temporal dynamics of the networks' electrophysiological signatures reflect individual variations in brain activity and connectivity linked to mental states and cognitive functions and can predict or monitor vulnerability to develop psychiatric or neurological disorders. In particular, RS alpha fluctuations modulate perceptual sensitivity, attentional shifts, and cognitive control, and could therefore reflect a neural correlate of increased vulnerability to sensory distortions, including the proneness to hallucinatory experiences. We recorded 5 min of RS EEG from 33 non-clinical individuals varying in hallucination proneness (HP) to investigate links between task-free alpha dynamics and vulnerability to hallucinations. To this end, we used a dynamic brain state allocation method to identify five recurrent alpha states together with their spatiotemporal dynamics and most active brain areas through source reconstruction. The dynamical features of a state marked by activation in somatosensory, auditory, and posterior default-mode network areas predicted auditory and auditory-verbal HP, but not general HP, such that individuals with higher vulnerability to auditory hallucinations spent more time in this state. The temporal dynamics of spontaneous alpha activity might reflect individual differences in attention to internally generated sensory events and altered auditory perceptual sensitivity. Altered RS alpha dynamics could therefore instantiate a neural marker of increased vulnerability to auditory hallucinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of experience in the development and maintenance of emergent network properties such as cortical oscillations and states is poorly understood. To define how early-life experience affects cortical dynamics in the visual cortex of adult, head-fixed mice, we examined the effects of two forms of blindness initiated before eye opening and continuing through recording: (1) bilateral loss of retinal input (enucleation) and (2) degradation of visual input (eyelid suture). Neither form of deprivation fundamentally altered the state-dependent regulation of firing rates or local field potentials. However, each deprivation caused unique changes in network behavior. Laminar analysis revealed two different generative mechanisms for low-frequency synchronization: one prevalent during movement and the other during quiet wakefulness. The former was absent in enucleated mice, suggesting a mouse homolog of human alpha oscillations. In addition, neurons in enucleated animals were less correlated and fired more regularly, but no change in mean firing rate. Eyelid suture decreased firing rates during quiet wakefulness, but not during movement, with no effect on neural correlations or regularity. Sutured animals showed a broadband increase in depth EEG power and an increased occurrence, but reduced central frequency, of narrowband gamma oscillations. The complementary—rather than additive—effects of lid suture and enucleation suggest that the development of emergent network properties does not require vision but is plastic to modified input. Our results suggest a complex interaction of internal set points and experience determines mature cortical activity, with low-frequency synchronization being particularly susceptible to early deprivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Given the importance of emotion recognition for communication purposes, and the impairment for such skill in CI users despite impressive language performances, the aim of the present study was to investigate the neural correlates of emotion recognition skills, apart from language, in adult unilateral CI (UCI) users during a music in noise (happy/sad) recognition task. Furthermore, asymmetry was investigated through electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythm, given the traditional concept of hemispheric lateralization for emotional processing, and the intrinsic asymmetry due to the clinical UCI condition. Methods: Twenty adult UCI users and eight normal hearing (NH) controls were recruited. EEG gamma and alpha band power was assessed as there is evidence of a relationship between gamma and emotional response and between alpha asymmetry and tendency to approach or withdraw from stimuli. The TAS-20 questionnaire (alexithymia) was completed by the participants. Results: The results showed no effect of background noise, while supporting that gamma activity related to emotion processing shows alterations in the UCI group compared to the NH group, and that these alterations are also modulated by the etiology of deafness. In particular, relative higher gamma activity in the CI side corresponds to positive processes, correlated with higher emotion recognition abilities, whereas gamma activity in the non-CI side may be related to positive processes inversely correlated with alexithymia and also inversely correlated with age; a correlation between TAS-20 scores and age was found only in the NH group. Conclusions: EEG gamma activity appears to be fundamental to the processing of the emotional aspect of music and also to the psychocognitive emotion-related component in adults with CI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The alpha, beta, and gamma diversity of Braconidae was analyzed in three avocado orchards (Piedra Rajada, the Guardián, and Montitlán) in Colima, Mexico, from monthly samplings from September 2016 to June 2017. In total, 171 braconids were collected. These included 21 genera (nine are new records for Colima) and 28 morphospecies that corresponded to 73% of the expected richness in the study area. The orchard in Piedra Rajada had the highest number of species and diversity. The update of the Braconidae genera for the state of Colima, Mexico is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are concerns over the effects of increasingly large and high‐severity fires that burn outside the local natural range of variation on ecosystem services and biodiversity.Pollinators provide important ecosystem services in the dry forests of the western United States where they depend on open habitat created or maintained by frequent, low‐ to moderate‐severity fire.We investigated the impact of burn severity on pollinator diversity in upland forest and meadow habitat at local (i.e., at the plot scale) and regional (burn severity class) spatial scales in the Sierra Nevada of California.In meadows, pollinator richness declined with increasing burn severity, but in uplands, there was no significant effect of burn severity on pollinator richness. Absence of pollinators was more likely to occur in unburned or high‐severity uplands.At the regional scale, we found that α was similar among burn classes in both habitats, although communities in burned uplands tended to be less even than unburned uplands. β was significantly higher in moderately burned than unburned upland habitat, but there were no significant differences in β for meadow habitats.Because meadows tend to be both more diverse and more sensitive to the negative impacts of high‐severity fire than uplands, conservation measures for pollinators could prioritise the removal of encroaching conifer species that may increase fire severity in these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In previous studies, there was an increase in mortality with secondary coinfections in all COVID-19 variants. However, no prior study has explored the association of coinfection with outcomes of hospitalized patients among the COVID-19 variants (Alpha, Delta, and Omicron). Methods: This observational cohort study involved 21,186 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in 25 hospitals in Texas. Patients were divided into groups by surges of COVID-19: Alpha (November 1, 2020–February 10, 2021), Delta (July 10, 2021–October 14, 2021), and Omicron (December 21, 2021–March 3, 2022). Data were collected from electronic health records using methodology from the Viral Respiratory Illness Universal Study COVID-19 registry (NCT04323787) of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Multivariable Cox-proportional hazard regression model assessed the adjusted effect of different surge periods on mortality. Results: Bacterial coinfections varied among hospitalization surges associated with Alpha (8.5%), Delta (11.7%), and Omicron (11.9%) variants. Adjusted analyses showed a higher 30-day and 90-day mortality in all variants when coinfections were present compared with isolated COVID-19 infection. In particular, 30-day and 90-day mortality were significantly worse with Delta compared to Alpha and Omicron. Conclusions: All variants were associated with a higher mortality when bacterial coinfections were present. Delta was associated with a higher risk-adjusted mortality at 30 days and thereafter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to revisit the measures of internal consistency for multi-item scales in hospitality research and compare the performance of Cronbach's α, omega total (ωTotal), omega hierarchical (ωH), Revelle's omega total (ωRT), Minimum Rank Factor Analysis (GLBfa) and GLB algebraic (GLBa). Design/methodology/approach: A Monte Carlo simulation was conducted to compare the performance of the six reliability estimators under different conditions common in hospitality research. Second, this study analyzed a data set to complement the simulation study. Findings: Overall, ωTotal was the best-performing estimator across all conditions, whereas ωH performed the poorest. α performed well when factor loadings were high with low variability (high/low) and large sample sizes. Similarly, ωRT, GLBfa and GLBa performed consistently well when loadings were high and less variable as well as the sample size and the number of scale items increased. Of the two GLB estimators, GLBa consistently outperformed GLBfa. Practical implications: This study provides hospitality managers with a better understanding of what reliability is and the various reliability estimators. Using reliable instruments ensures that organizations draw accurate conclusions that help them move closer to realizing their visions. Originality/value: Though popular in other fields, reliability discussions have not yet received substantial attention in hospitality. This study raises these discussions in the context of hospitality research to promote better practices for assessing the reliability of scales used within the hospitality domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A prominent theoretical framework spanning philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience holds that selective attention penetrates early stages of perceptual processing to alter the subjective visual experience of behaviorally relevant stimuli. For example, searching for a red apple at the grocery store might make the relevant color appear brighter and more saturated compared with seeing the exact same red apple while searching for a yellow banana. In contrast, recent proposals argue that data supporting attention-related changes in appearance reflect decision- and motor-level response biases without concurrent changes in perceptual experience. Here, we tested these accounts by evaluating attentional modulations of EEG responses recorded from male and female human subjects while they compared the perceived contrast of attended and unattended visual stimuli rendered at different levels of physical contrast. We found that attention enhanced the amplitude of the P1 component, an early evoked potential measured over visual cortex. A linking model based on signal detection theory suggests that response gain modulations of the P1 component track attention-induced changes in perceived contrast as measured with behavior. In contrast, attentional cues induced changes in the baseline amplitude of posterior alpha band oscillations (∼9-12 Hz), an effect that best accounts for cue-induced response biases, particularly when no stimuli are presented or when competing stimuli are similar and decisional uncertainty is high. The observation of dissociable neural markers that are linked to changes in subjective appearance and response bias supports a more unified theoretical account and demonstrates an approach to isolate subjective aspects of selective information processing.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Does attention alter visual appearance, or does it simply induce response bias? In the present study, we examined these competing accounts using EEG and linking models based on signal detection theory. We found that response gain modulations of the visually evoked P1 component best accounted for attention-induced changes in visual appearance. In contrast, cue-induced baseline shifts in alpha band activity better explained response biases. Together, these results suggest that attention concurrently impacts visual appearance and response bias, and that these processes can be experimentally isolated.

BackgroundF-8-coil repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and H-1-coil deep repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) have been indicated for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adult patients by applying different treatment protocols. Nevertheless, the evidence for long-term electrophysiological alterations in the cortex following prolonged TMS interventions, as assessed by quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG), remains insufficiently explored. This study aims to demonstrate the qEEG-based distinctions between rTMS and dTMS in the management of depression and to evaluate the potential correlation between the electrophysiological changes induced by these two distinct TMS interventions and the clinical improvement in depressive and anxiety symptoms.MethodsA total of 60 patients diagnosed with treatment resistant depression received rTMS (n = 30) or dTMS (n = 30) along with their usual treatments in Kemal Arıkan Psychiatry Clinic. All the participants underwent resting-state qEEG recording before and at the end of 30 sessions of TMS treatment. The significant qEEG changes were then tested for their correlation with the improvement in depression and anxiety.ResultsAfter the course of rTMS and dTMS a considerable reduction is seen in the severity of depression and anxiety. Although improvements in depression and anxiety were observed in both TMS groups, specific neural activity patterns were associated with better outcomes in depression. Patients who exhibited lower alpha activity in the left fronto-central region and higher gamma activity in the right prefrontal region following rTMS showed more significant improvements in depression symptoms. Similarly, those whose beta activity increased in the left prefrontal region but decreased in the right prefrontal region after rTMS tended to have greater reductions in depression and anxiety severity. For patients in the dTMS group, those who demonstrated a decrease in left temporal theta activity after treatment were more likely to experience a substantial improvement in depression severity.ConclusionFollowing 30 sessions of rTMS with a F8 coil and dTMS with an H1 coil, notable alterations in qEEG activity with clinical significance were discerned. The persistence of these changes should be investigated in the subsequent follow-up period.

This study examines the impact of positive and negative feedback on recall of past decisions, focusing on behavioral performance and electrophysiological (EEG) responses. Participants completed a decision-making task involving 10 real-life scenarios, each followed by immediate positive or negative feedback. In a recall phase, participants’ accuracy (ACC), errors (ERRs), and response times (RTs) were recorded alongside EEG data to analyze brain activity patterns related to recall. Results indicate that accurately recalled decisions with positive feedback had slower RTs, suggesting an attentional bias toward positive information that could increase cognitive load during memory retrieval. A lack of difference in recall accuracy implies that social stimuli and situational goals may influence the positivity bias. EEG data showed distinct patterns: lower alpha band activity in frontal regions (AF7, AF8) for both correct and incorrect decisions recall, reflecting focused attention and cognitive control. Correctly recalled decisions with negative feedback showed higher delta activity, often linked to aversive processing, while incorrect recalls with negative feedback showed higher beta and gamma activity. A theta band feedback-dependent modulation in electrode activity showed higher values for decisions with negative feedback, suggesting memory suppression. These findings suggest that recalling decisions linked to self-threatening feedback may require greater cognitive effort, as seen in increased beta and gamma activity, which may indicate motivational processing and selective memory suppression. This study provides insights into the neural mechanisms of feedback-based memory recall, showing how feedback valence affects not only behavioral outcomes but also the cognitive and emotional processes involved in decision recall.

The classical view of experts associates greater risks with greater rewards. The present study explores whether increased volatility in portfolios can create more returns for investors by using technical indicators or the buy-and-hold (BH) strategy. The study used closing prices of National Stock Exchange (NSE) 500 index firms for a period of 16 years (2007–2022). Five portfolios ranging from low to high volatility were created using standard deviation as a key measure. Findings indicate that as the volatility of the portfolios increases, the moving average (MA) returns seem to be higher. Across the various MA time frames, the 20-day MA seems to have generated the highest return annually (36.53% before transaction costs and 31.05% after transaction costs) due to reasonable trading opportunities with adjustable transaction costs. The CAPM also generated positive alpha (after bearing transaction costs) in the case of 20, 50, and 100 days MA, with the values being 16.66%, 13.29%, and 12.09%, respectively, in the case of highly volatile portfolios. On the other hand, while the BH strategy created substantial returns in all scenarios, the risk factor was extremely high due to the high standard deviation. Hence, it is suggested that investors/traders consider the BH strategy more cautiously while choosing between technical analysis returns and BH returns. Investors with high-risk preferences may have BH as their choice, while day traders with managed risk appetites may prefer technical tools over BH returns. AcknowledgmentThe infrastructural support provided by the FORE School of Management, New Delhi in completing this paper is gratefully acknowledged.

The primary motor cortex does not uniquely or directly produce alpha motoneurone (α-MN) drive to muscles during voluntary movement. Rather, α-MN drive emerges from the synthesis and competition among excitatory and inhibitory inputs from multiple descending tracts, spinal interneurons, sensory inputs, and proprioceptive afferents. One such fundamental input is velocity-dependent stretch reflexes in lengthening muscles, which should be inhibited to enable voluntary movement. It remains an open question, however, the extent to which unmodulated stretch reflexes disrupt voluntary movement, and whether and how they are inhibited in limbs with numerous multiarticular muscles. We used a computational model of a Rhesus Macaque arm to simulate movements with feedforward α-MN commands only, and with added velocity-dependent stretch reflex feedback. We found that velocity-dependent stretch reflex caused movement-specific, typically large and variable disruptions to arm movements. These disruptions were greatly reduced when modulating velocity-dependent stretch reflex feedback (i) as per the commonly proposed (but yet to be clarified) idealized alpha-gamma (α-γ) coactivation or (ii) an alternative α-MN collateral projection to homonymous γ-MNs. We conclude that such α-MN collaterals are a physiologically tenable propriospinal circuit in the mammalian fusimotor system. These collaterals could still collaborate with α-γ coactivation, and the few skeletofusimotor fibers (β-MNs) in mammals, to create a flexible fusimotor ecosystem to enable voluntary movement. By locally and automatically regulating the highly nonlinear neuro-musculo-skeletal mechanics of the limb, these collaterals could be a critical low-level enabler of learning, adaptation, and performance via higher-level brainstem, cerebellar, and cortical mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbal working memory (vWM) is an essential limited‐capacity cognitive system that spans the fronto‐parietal network and utilizes the subprocesses of encoding, maintenance, and retrieval. With the recent widespread use of noninvasive brain stimulation techniques, multiple recent studies have examined whether such stimulation may enhance cognitive abilities such as vWM, but the findings to date remain unclear in terms of both behavior and critical brain regions. In the current study, we applied high‐definition direct current stimulation to the left and right parietal cortices of 39 healthy adults in three separate sessions (left anodal, right anodal, and sham). Following stimulation, participants completed a vWM task during high‐density magnetoencephalography (MEG). Significant neural responses at the sensor‐level were imaged using a beamformer and whole‐brain ANOVAs were used to identify the specific neuromodulatory effects of the stimulation conditions on neural responses serving distinct phases of vWM. We found that right stimulation had a faciliatory effect relative to left stimulation and sham on theta oscillations during encoding in the right inferior frontal, while the opposite pattern was observed for left supramarginal regions. Stimulation also had a faciliatory effect on theta in occipital regions and alpha in temporal regions regardless of the laterality of stimulation. In summary, our data suggest that parietal HD‐tDCS both facilitates and interferes with neural responses underlying both the encoding and maintenance phases of vWM. Future studies are warranted to determine whether specific tDCS parameters can be tuned to accentuate the facilitation responses and attenuate the interfering aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive behaviors require the ability to resolve conflicting information caused by the processing of incompatible sensory inputs. Prominent theories of attention have posited that early selective attention helps mitigate cognitive interference caused by conflicting sensory information by facilitating the processing of task-relevant sensory inputs and filtering out behaviorally irrelevant information. Surprisingly, many recent studies that investigated the role of early selective attention on conflict mitigation have failed to provide positive evidence. Here, we examined changes in the selectivity of early visuospatial attention in male and female human subjects performing an attention-cueing Eriksen flanker task, where they discriminated the shape of a visual target surrounded by congruent or incongruent distractors. We used the inverted encoding model to reconstruct spatial representations of visual selective attention from the topographical patterns of amplitude modulations in alpha band oscillations in scalp EEG (∼8-12 Hz). We found that the fidelity of the alpha-based spatial reconstruction was significantly higher in the incongruent compared with the congruent condition. Importantly, these conflict-related modulations in the reconstruction fidelity occurred at a much earlier time window than those of the lateralized posterior event-related potentials associated with target selection and distractor suppression processes, as well as conflict-related modulations in the frontocentral negative-going wave and midline-frontal theta oscillations (∼3-7 Hz), thought to track executive control functions. Taken together, our data suggest that conflict resolution is supported by the cascade of neural processes underlying early selective visuospatial attention and frontal executive functions that unfold over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cannabis is the most widely used psychoactive drug in the United States. While multiple studies have associated acute cannabis consumption with alterations in cognitive function (e.g., visual and spatial attention), far less is known regarding the effects of chronic consumption on the neural dynamics supporting these cognitive functions. Methods: We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) and an established visuospatial processing task to elicit multi-spectral neuronal responses in 44 regular cannabis users and 53 demographically matched non-user controls. To examine the effects of chronic cannabis use on the oscillatory dynamics underlying visuospatial processing, neural responses were imaged using a time-frequency resolved beamformer and compared across groups. Results: Neuronal oscillations serving visuospatial processing were identified in the theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (8–14 Hz), and gamma range (56–76 Hz), and these were imaged and examined for group differences. Our key results indicated that users exhibited weaker theta oscillations in occipital and cerebellar regions and weaker gamma responses in the left temporal cortices compared to non-users. Lastly, alpha oscillations did not differ, but alpha connectivity among higher-order attention areas was weaker in cannabis users relative to non-users and correlated with performance. Conclusions: Overall, these results suggest that chronic cannabis users have alterations in the oscillatory dynamics and neural connectivity serving visuospatial attention. Such alterations were observed across multiple cortical areas critical for higher-order processing and may reflect compensatory activity and/or the initial emergence of aberrant dynamics. Future work is needed to fully understand the implications of altered multispectral oscillations and neural connectivity in cannabis users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simulation of fuel composition requires coupled calculations of neutron transport and burnup. It is generally assumed that the neutron flux density and cross-sections remain constant within a burnup step. However, when there are strong absorber poisons present, the reaction rates of the absorbers change too rapidly over time, necessitating extremely fine step sizes to ensure computational accuracy, which in turn leads to low computational efficiency. As a type of accident tolerant fuel (ATF), fully ceramic micro-encapsulated (FCM) fuel is a promising new type of nuclear fuel. Accelerated algorithms for burnup calculations of FCM fuel containing gadolinium isotopes have been developed based on the ALPHA code, including the projected predictor–corrector (PPC), the log-linear rate (LLR), and the high-order predictor–corrector (HOPC) methods (including CE/LI, CE/QI, LE/LI, and LE/QI). The performances of different algorithms under the two forms of Gd2O3 existence were analyzed. The numerical results show that the LE/QI method performs the best overall. For Gd2O3 existing in both forms, the LE/QI algorithm can maintain accuracy with a burnup step size of up to 1.0 GWd/tU, keeping the infinite multiplication factor kinf within 100 pcm, and it exhibits high accuracy in simulating the atomic number densities of Gd-155 and Gd-157 throughout the burnup process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of scale in Real Estate Mutual Fund (REMF) performance. We test the impact of both fund-level and industry-level economies of scale on fund performance. We provide consistent evidence that industry size erodes REMF performance. After controlling for endogeneity concerns, we document an insignificant relation between fund size and performance. Taken together, these findings suggest that the rapid growth of the REMF industry over the past few decades has materially impacted active managers' ability to consistently outperform their passive benchmarks. As more capital flows into the industry, competition for alpha increases, and investment opportunities dwindle. This effect is stronger in funds who are especially active in seeking out those increasingly elusive opportunities. Specifically, the effect of industry size on alpha is particularly negative for funds with higher turnover ratios, expense ratios, and volatility of returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]